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Talks underway over Trump administration role for NYC Mayor Adams amid efforts to stop Mamdani, sources say

Chris Sommerfeldt and Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News on

Published in Political News

NEW YORK — While vowing to still run for reelection, Mayor Eric Adams didn’t dismiss the possibility of joining President Trump’s administration Wednesday as sources said conversations are underway about a potential job opportunity.

Adams, who’s running as an independent in November’s mayoral election and consistently placing third or fourth in most polls of the race, called the prospect of working for Trump a “hypothetical” during an unrelated event in the Bronx on Wednesday afternoon. He also said he has received many job offers over the last year.

“All that’s hypothetical,” Adams said when asked specifically about a Trump job. “Last year and a half, people saw what I’ve done in the city and they saw my resiliency. I have been getting calls from private industries, from boards, from educational institutions, I have been getting offers for the last year and a half: ‘Would I come and join their corporation?’ So people are always asking.”

Adams’ comments came as sources familiar with the matter told the Daily News that key Trump advisers, including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, have been engaged in discussions with Adams’ team about the possibility of offering the mayor a post in the federal administration.

As first reported by the New York Times earlier Wednesday, those conversations have been playing out for weeks as Adams remains dogged in his reelection efforts by accusations that he’s beholden to Trump, whose Justice Department quashed the mayor’s corruption indictment this spring in a controversial move.

Citing sources, The Times reported the push to get Adams a job is aimed at culling the mayoral race field in order to maximize chances of stopping Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, who’s polling as the favorite to win November’s contest.

The newspaper also reported Trump advisers have approached Curtis Sliwa, the Republican mayoral nominee, about a potential administration job — all as part of an apparent effort to boost the chances of Andrew Cuomo, who is, like Adams, running as an independent against Mamdani.

It is widely believed that, with both to the right of the progressive Mamdani, Adams and Cuomo would split the moderate vote and ease the path for a Mamdani victory if they both stay in the race.

The White House declined to comment on any discussions about getting Adams or Sliwa Trump administration jobs.

Asked whether any talks were underway, Adams campaign spokesman Todd Shapiro said the mayor hasn’t himself spoken with Trump about the matter. Shaprio affirmed Adams is committed to running for reelection to build on his record of having “consistently stood up for working families.”

“Mayor Adams is focused on building on that progress and earning four more years to continue delivering for the people of New York,” Shapiro said.

Sliwa has said only death would prevent him from staying in the race.

Adams in the race is generally seen as a negative for Cuomo, who is consistently polling as the strongest contender against Mamdani, a democratic socialist whose tax-the-rich agenda has unnerved the city’s business community. Trump has claimed Mamdani’s a “communist.”

Sid Rosenberg, a conservative radio personality and Trump supporter, told The News he believes the Queens-born president sees Cuomo as having the best shot at defeating Mamdani and may be trying to do what he can to clear the field for the former governor.

“Those two guys get along and I think those guys talk more than people think they do. Even though they curse the shit out of each other, there’s a mutual Queens respect,” Rosenberg said, referring to the various public feuds then-Gov. Cuomo had with Trump before resigning in 2021 amid sexual misconduct accusations he denies.

 

Mamdani, at an emergency news conference to address the report about Trump and Adams, slammed the potential arrangement as an “affront to our democracy” and argued it shows Cuomo is colluding with the president, too.

“The issue is a former governor, a Democrat in name only, calling the president of this country, having a conversation with the intent of how to stop the Democratic nominee’s success in the November election,” he said.

“That is what we have not seen before. We have not seen a president of this country seek to fundamentally alter the nature of a race, all with the intent of preventing the Democratic nominee from succeeding.”

Mamdani said the Trump-Adams conversations show “just how disconnected these people are from the crisis at hand.”

“New Yorkers are fed up with politics as they know it is because of news like this, backroom deals, corrupt agreements, all of which serve to increase the sense of disaffection and despair,” he said.

A call to Cuomo’s campaign for a response was not immediately returned.

Rumors about Adams’ future began swirling Tuesday after his office announced he had traveled to Florida for a visit that involved meetings with political operatives. At his Bronx press conference, Adams said the trip had nothing to do with the mayoral race, adding he went to celebrate his 65th birthday with friends while pledging he isn’t looking to suspend his reelection campaign.

“I went for personal (reasons) to see friends,” he said. “I hung out with them for one day, came back to New York, so all these other rumors I don’t know about. I have a job, I’m running for my reelection, I’m still doing that.”

In a television appearance earlier Wednesday on PIX11, Adams said he met with “political figures” during his Florida visit, but declined to say if any of them are members of Trump’s administration. Adams did confirm one of the people he met with was Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a Trump ally who was at one point under consideration to be the Republican president’s running mate in the 2024 election.

A spokeswoman for Suarez didn’t return a request for comment.

Adams is facing tough electoral odds running as an independent amid continued fallout from his corruption indictment and controversy surrounding his ties to Trump. A survey by American Pulse Research from mid-August projected Adams would only clinch about 11% support, putting him fourth in the race behind Mamdani, Cuomo and Sliwa.

The news of Adams’ potential Trump job come after Jim Walden, a lawyer who has campaigned as an independent in the mayoral race, pulled the plug on his campaign Tuesday and urged all candidates in the running to drop out if they aren’t polling as the strongest contender against Mamdani.

“For those still trailing in the polls by month’s end, I implore each to consider how history will judge them if they allow vanity or stubborn ambition to usher in Mr. Mamdani,” Walden said in a statement about his decision to drop out.

_____


©2025 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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